The Central New York Community Foundation (CNYCF) has developed a helpful new way to connect Syracuse-area nonprofits and improve services through its release of a new mobile app.

The app aims to help nonprofits in the community to collaborate with other organizations in a more streamlined way. In turn, the connections could help these organizations become more competitive when applying for grants. 

To do that, the app features a listing of current community needs and encourages nonprofits to determine how it can help address those needs -- either on their own or in partnership with other local nonprofits.

For example, if the app identifies a need for donated food items to help feed the hungry, a nonprofit can choose to ramp up its efforts to collect items from its supporters.

In cases where a nonprofit only feels like it can address a portion of the need, the app identifies other potential nonprofit partners -- a feature that is designed to help encourage partnerships among local charities and lead to more efficient use of resources.

This will help organizations accomplish more within their missions, and cutting back on research time. "They can look at their data and identify programs or needs that they didn't know, or they can justify the grant dollars that they're receiving for these programs,” said Robyn Smith, CNY Community Foundation Strategic Initiatives director in an interview with Spectrum News. 

The app was developed because of information gathered from the Performance Management Learning Community program. The program was launched in 2011 in order to track and measure the impact of local organizations. Organizations who were awarded grants to participate in the year-long program were able to share their experiences first locally, and then with others in central New York.